RITA Reader Challenge Review

Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2017 review was written by Middleclassmanhattan. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Long Historical category.

The summary:

Biweekly marriage proposals from men who can’t see beyond her (admittedly breathtaking) looks are starting to get on Lady Clara Fairfax’s nerves. Desperate to be something more than ornamental, she escapes to her favorite charity. When a child is in trouble, she turns to tall, dark, and annoying barrister Oliver Radford.

Though he’s unexpectedly found himself in line to inherit a dukedom, Radford’s never been part of fashionable society, and the blonde beauty, though not entirely bereft of brains, isn’t part of his plans. But Clara overwhelms even his infallible logic, and when wedlock looms, all he can do is try not to lose his head over her . . .

It’s an inconvenient marriage by ordinary standards, but these two are far from ordinary. Can the ton’s most adored heiress and London’s most difficult bachelor fall victim to their own unruly desires?

Here is Middleclassmanhattan's review:

The hardest part of writing this review was trying to remember the actual name of the book. Dukes Prefer Blondes hints at nothing in this story, save for the fact our heroine is blonde. The title itself is unremarkable.

However, Ms. Chase delivers a book that is anything but! Filled with vibrant characters, witty dialogue, Dukes Prefer Blondes was a delight to read and a truly memorable love story. This was my first Loretta Chase book, and I understand why she has a great fan base, and why beloved author Julia Quinn is quoted on the cover.

To start with, the hero and heroine are equal parts intriguing, sexy, and quirky. You have your rich heroine, Lady Clara Fairfax, who wants to make a difference in society, and if she marries at all, Clara wants to marry someone who appreciates her intellect. And you have your genius Sherlock Holmes-like hero, Oliver Radford (known as Raven), who doesn’t have outrageous wealth (yet) but is building a standout career, and he doesn’t want anything to get in his way, most especially an illogical, emotional relationship. Our hero and heroine end up, after several adventures, with a heart-warming HEA. Perhaps that sounds as memorable as the title? Oh, but you would be wrong! Ms. Chase knows the magic formula for creating a HEA unique and memorable.

This review could be ten pages long explaining everything that appealed to me about Ms. Chase’s writing style and this particular book, but I’ve decided to limit my gushing and highlight three elements in particular, which for me, make it stand apart from other historical romances.

The first and most gratifying is the chemistry between the hero and heroine, which comes across through their amusing dialogue. Each Lady Clara and Raven scene is filled with quick-paced, charming banter. It reminds me of my favorite couple from the old TV detective series Remington Steele. The dialogue says that they find each other aggravating, but the subtext is altogether different. Here’s a typical example of the couple’s back-and-forth:

After a moment’s hesitation, he took the maid’s chair. “You must try to take nourishment,” he told his patient. “You must do exactly as I say, and get well, because I’ve promised you would and if you don’t, I shall be disgraced, and then—”

“I know. Your career will be ruined. You’re so charming.”

“Everybody says that,” he said.

“No, they don’t. Never. No one has ever said that about you in all your life, I’ll wager anything.”

“Perhaps they did not exactly say charming,” he said. “Perhaps… Yes, now I recollect, the phrase was ‘tolerable in very small doses’.”

“And yet I missed you,” she said. “Fancy that.”

She made it so difficult to stay detached. At this moment, it was impossible. He couldn’t stop his other self from getting a word in. “I missed you, too,” he said gruffly.

“Of course you did,” she said. “Because I’m so lovable.”

“You’re not lovable,” he said. “You are excessively annoying. And managing. But I’m accustomed to hardened criminals and half-witted judges, and being with you reminds me of home at the Old Bailey.”

Such a smile, then, more like her usual one.

How can you not look forward to reading more about this couple? Especially since Raven’s dialogue often had me thinking of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes.

In addition to the couple’s chemistry, I thoroughly enjoyed the well-thought-out subplots, which contribute to the rich character development. Ms. Chase certainly uses the subplots to push her characters together, but she also takes it a step further. She uses them to flesh out each main character so completely that you cheer for Clara as an individual, and you cheer for Raven as an individual, and then you cheer even more for them to become a couple.

For example, the subplot involving the bad guy and his attempts to kill Raven could be a stand-alone book as they add so much suspense, but while you’re wondering what’s going to happen next, you are also learning all about Raven’s law career. And like the master magician she clearly is, each of Ms. Chase’s subplots give the reader insight into Lady Clara and Raven’s characters while keeping the reader highly entertained (the mock courtroom scene involving Radford and Lady Clara’s parents is certainly a delightful highlight). There is no chapter, no moment in the story that isn’t making the reader fall in love with the main characters. Ms. Chase even makes the secondary characters and the scenes without Raven and Clara intriguing and fast-paced enough that I didn’t skip ahead to when the two main characters were back in the same scene. (And, yes, my iPhone-addled, lack-of-focus brain lacks patience for parts of a story that bore me after a page.)

The subplots are filled with period detail, which is the third standout element in this story that I wanted to mention. Ms. Chase injects the story with enough factual history to leave you with more than just a taste of the time period without pulling you out of your happy escapist-romance-novel-reading time. In addition to the imagery and attention to period detail evident throughout the book, each chapter begins with a quote or a short excerpt of a piece published from the period.

DUKE, in Latin Dux, à ducendo, signifying the leader of an army, noblemen being anciently either generals and commanders of armies in time of war, or wardens of marches, and governors of provinces in peace. This is now the first rank of the nobility. —Debrett’s Peerage, 1831

Ms. Chase draws you into the time period a little deeper with these excerpts, as if she were saying to you directly, “You know this is the type of thing Raven and Lady Clara would be familiar with, dealing with, etc.” I appreciated the added whisper of historical flavor. I even found myself Googling some of the books quoted.

The dialogue, the subplots, and the attention to period detail combined to make this a memorable story for me. But of course, no romance novel review would be complete without a comment on the sex scenes. I was half-way through the book before I realized there had been no sex yet, and even then it barely registered as the story is so engaging. Ms. Chase spends time creating sexual tension, so when you get to the sex scenes you won’t be disappointed.

I would give Dukes Prefer Blondes a solid A, and I look forward to reading the other books in the Dressmaker series.

And finally, my dear romancelandia readers, forgive me if this review reads like a fourth grader’s book report. After finishing such a rewarding, heart-warming, thoughtful, well-crafted story, all I really wanted to do was jump up and down, wave my arms, and shout, “Read it!” With that said, I’ll end with the most important part of the review: “Read it! Read it! Just read it!”


Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase received a B in a previous review by Carrie.

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Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase

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  1. sandyl says:

    loved, loved, loved this book! I think it is one of her best.

  2. Carole says:

    Really loved this one as well – was on my 2016 Favourites List.

  3. Ren Benton says:

    This was my least favorite in the series. Parts of it were so choppy, I barely recognized it as a Loretta Chase book, and while I’m fond of grumpy, uptight heroes, I prefer them with inwardly seething passion. Raven was robotic even in his own POV. Without warmth, a lot of his “banter” ventured into negging territory, and I was unamused on Clara’s behalf.

  4. Teev says:

    This is one of the best Witty Banter romances ever, and if you read the other Dressmaker books first then this is a so very satisfying conclusion to Clara’s arc. So any mention/promotion of it is great.

    That said, if I thought the eligibility dates of the RITAs were confusing before, now I’m flabbergasted. This book came out in 2015.

  5. Emily says:

    Great review 🙂 Loretta Chase is hit or miss for me, and this one was right up there with Lord of Scoundrels. Raven and Lady Clara were just so freaking cute together. I loved every minute of it.

    However, I would not call it a marriage of convienemce romance as noted in the header of this post.

  6. Carla says:

    This was my first Loretta Chase book, too, and you wrote the review exactly as I would have. 🙂 I will never forget the scene where Clara and Raven argue in her bedroom and he storms off and slams the door. Then she throws something at the door. And then something happens that I’ve never read in any of my 40 years of reading romance novels — HE COMES BACK IN THE ROOM! I had to read that scene 3 or 4 times to make sure I was reading it right. No days or weeks of being in a snit and not speaking for Loretta Chase characters. I haven’t loved a romance writer this much since Julie Garwood was writing historical romances.

  7. Invoking Remington Steele-like levels of banter?

    Why hello there, distinct smell of catnip!

  8. June says:

    I really, really want a series of books with Raven and Clara. I can see them solving mysteries.

  9. Louise says:

    Well, someone in my library’s acquisitions department must be a Loretta Chase fan, because we’ve got pages and pages of listings. Or possibly some three, as they’ve got her catalogued three ways. Tralala. If I ever finish the Lisbon earthquake, I will know where to go for a palate-cleanser.

  10. Amanda says:

    @Teev: Publishing is weird in that books published in late December often count for the following publishing year.

  11. Gloriamarie says:

    @Middleclassmanhattan, I enjoyed your review and it makes me want to read the book.

    I was curious about something in the description and wondered if you could clarify it for me as you have read the book.

    “Biweekly marriage proposals from men who can’t see beyond her (admittedly breathtaking) looks are starting to get on Lady Clara Fairfax’s nerves.”

    I am puzzled by the use of “bi-weekly.” Would a marriage proposal every other week really be that annoying? Or is the word “bi-weekly” used to indicate twice a week, which is not what that word means?

    Thank you.

  12. CK says:

    “tall, dark, and annoying” is the hero type I didn’t know I needed. I will be picking this one up 😀

  13. Katie C. says:

    I read this one last month and while I loved the first 1/2-2/3, there just wasn’t enough emotional payout for me when the two figured out they loved each other. I do agree with the other commenters though that the witty banter was amazing.

  14. Katie C. says:

    Hmmm, reading my comment again I meant emotional payoff not payout!

    Also I would not classify this one as a marriage of convenience. I would call it class differences (which play an important role in the middle of the book),

  15. MinaKelly says:

    @gloriamarie In the UK, at least, biweekly is twice a week, while fortnightly is every two weeks. Though, tbh, every every two weeks is a lot. 26 proposals a year! 26 arrogant, self obsessed men looking for arm candy to politely put off a year. The only thing worse is 104 of the dicks a year!

  16. Gloriamarie says:

    @MinaKelly, thank you for the clarification. Here in the USA bi-weekly and fortnightly would be synonymous.

    Yes, I suppose even in the Regency a proposal every other week would be a bit much. But I was under the impression that the would-be groom would have to speak with the lady’s father and get his permission to propose.

    Wonder how her father felt about all these proposals and her continued refusals? LOL I suppose I will have to read the book to find out.

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